We have all taken TONS of surveys in our lifetime. 

We get surveys when we make an online purchase, when we speak with a customer service agent, when we want to get a  free gift card, and even when we go to the hospital. 

We're all pros at taking surveys... and we all know when we're taking one that's TERRIBLY designed. 

For me, if I don't feel like I can answer the questions, or if it gets too long or overly annoying, I'm out. 

And that organization just lost a respondent. 

I don't want that to happen to you -- because in education, surveying our stakeholders is SO important. It shows that we value our stakeholders' opinions, feedback, and experiences. 

We can't afford to lose respondents because of iffy survey design. 

Here are a few of my tips for upping your survey game: 

1. Ask only what's really important. 

Make a list of what your team is wondering about or what the impact of your proposed projects/plans might be before you draft your survey questions. 

Keep it short and sweet ... if it's not related to those things, don't include it. 

2. Reach respondents where they are. 

Think of all of your touch points with your key stakeholders. Students may be log in for online class, families may check social media for updates, and all of your stakeholders may access meal sites.

At all of these venues, you can easily ask about needs, satisfaction with the school's efforts, or other questions you may have.

You can also get feedback through polls in Google Classroom, Zoom, via text message, or even on social media. 

3. This may seem obvious, but ... make it easy for respondents to actually answer your questions. 

Keep the language clear and simple so a person of any reading level can understand it. 

Never ask about more than one topic in a single question, and try to avoid giving a neutral middle answer option when you can.

(In both of these cases, it's very hard for you to actually learn anything from the data.)

And of course, if you work with communities who speak languages other than English, find a way to translate your survey into their language. 

Translation is a much tougher process than it should be, but it is essential for making all of your families feel valued and for hearing from your entire community, not just one subset. 

All that being said, I feel the same way about you - my colleagues, clients, and readers.

I want to know what's important to you and what would be helpful for me to cover on the blog.

I hope that you've been inspired by this post and will take my brief survey below.

​I appreciate your feedback and will use it to generate future content for you!

Growing up in New Jersey, the day after Labor Day always marked the start of a new school year ... and the day I finally got to wear the new outfit I had carefully planned and crack open my new, pristine notebooks.

If you couldn't tell, I have always loved the excitement of returning to school. 

Unfortunately, for many children, families, and educators, this year felt different. 

Some of the usual excitement and jitters have been replaced by trepidation about what to expect from a year like no other.

Concerns about health and safety, academic progress, and schedule juggling have been abundant in my conversations with teachers and the staff and family surveys I have analyzed. 

So how will schools and districts know if they are adequately addressing their stakeholders' fears?

Well... they've got to ask them. 

Colleagues in a number of recent conversations have been discussing the use of continuous improvement cycles. If you're not familiar with continuous improvement, its hallmark is the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) Cycle.  

Alicia Grunow of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching explains the PDSA cycle: 

More simply put, schools and districts need to: 

• Determine what need or concern they are going to address and how they will address it, 
• Implement the intervention, program, or practice they proposed, 
• Collect and analyze data to see if what was implemented actually worked, and
• Make a plan for what to continue and what to change. 

Then, the cycle starts all over again ... quickly. 

We're not talking about huge, multi-year studies here ... This is a relatively quick and simple process! 

Make a plan, implement the plan, figure out if the plan worked, and if not, adjust and try again! 

With school kicking off, schools and districts have already put a short-term plan in place and are putting it into action. 

And this year, short cycles of trial and error are going to be key, as even our modes of schooling could change multiple times throughout the year. 

So how can schools and districts get feedback from their stakeholders NOW to see if their plan worked? 

Instead of a lengthy formal survey, think of creative ways to ask for feedback:​

• Polls in Google Classroom or Zoom for students during or after class
• Fun tools like PollEverywhere or Mentimeter that can help you embed polls into presentations and display the results 
• Create a poll on Twitter or other social media platforms from your school or district

Asking one or two questions at a time in interactive ways will make it easy for stakeholders of all groups to participate, prevent them from getting tired of surveys, and give you real-time data about how people are feeling.*

*Just make sure the platforms you choose will allow for translation.

Now here's the kicker: once you collect data, you have to complete the cycle ... ACT!

Make it clear for students, families, and staff that you valued their feedback and are going to put it to use ... and tell them how!

Start this crazy school year off right by lifting up the voices of your stakeholders in fun and easy ways and demonstrating that their feedback will guide your next round of planning and action. 

What are your creative ideas for hearing from stakeholders? Share them in the comments!